Ed Gillespie has been traveling across the Commonwealth touting his campaign’s proposed tax plan and has been claiming that the average Virginia family would save $1300 under his tax plan. When pressed on how he would define an “average” family — Gillespie’s campaign said that it’s for a family making about $135,000 a year.

Yet, the median income in Lynchburg hovers just above $51,000 — meaning that average families in Lynchburg would only save $277 dollars under Gillespie’s tax plan.

“Ed Gillespie doesn’t know what ‘average’ means in the Valley. Average Lynchburg families would only save $5 a week under his tax plan — and that is chump change,” said Mike Hamlar. “Gillespie wants to put forward policies that will give huge tax breaks for millionaires, slash jobs and wreck our economy. Unfortunately, that sounds like a plan right out of the Trump-Bush playbook that already failed our nation’s economy once.”

On issues relating to Trump’s budget, cuts to the Appalachian Regional commission and defunding Planned Parenthood, the Republican gubernatorial field has been almost silent.

“Regardless of who emerges from the primary — the Trump-Gillespie-Stewart agenda is wrong for Virginia,” said Lynchburg Democratic Committee Chair Katie Cyphert. “Ed Gillespie, Corey Stewart and Frank Wagner have not spoken out against Trump’s proposed budget that will downsize the federal workforce and completely eliminate the Appalachian Regional Commission. In this political climate, we need another Democratic governor who will to stand up to Trump and the havoc he will wreck on the Commonwealth’s economy, especially here in Lynchburg.”

The Commonwealth Institute found that under Ed Gillespie’s tax plan much of the benefit would go to wealthy households, while working families would get far less and critical public services would be put at risk. These proposals also mean forgoing revenue that is needed to create great schools, roads, and other vital public services.